1 May 2009

Us guitar players love to dream about our ideal guitars, guitars that will somehow make us better players.

We think about this ideal guitar convinced that it would lead to better playing, that our current guitar somehow holds us back. But what if it was really the ideal guitar that's holding you back from becoming the better guitar player you can be?

The Imaginary Ideal Guitar

But the problem with ideals is that they are made to be inaccessible. And while you fix your attention on this external ideal you forget about your own powers that could help you play better guitar.

Do You Set Yourself Up To Fail?

When you fix your attention on the ideal guitar your own guitar becomes an excuse for your own playing weaknesses. You think things like "If I had that guitar I could...", filling in the blank with whatever it is your ideal guitar is supposed to help you achieve, or "With my current guitar I can't..."

That kind of thinking undermines your ability to improve your guitar playing. It distracts you from what you really need to work on, work on right now with the guitar you have already.

You create a self-fulfilling prophecy with this kind of "I can't", or "I could if" phrase. Your sub-conscious takes the message you give it and makes it true for you, if you believe you can't, well then there's no point in trying, is there?

Try This Test

To get a better perspective on what the guitar does for your playing try this simple test. Go to a guitar shop and have someone who plays well play your dream guitar. Listen hard to how they play and sound.

Then have that same good player play on some other guitars that are not so dream worthy. Take your own guitar along too and have it played along with the others.

If your tester is a decent guitarist you'll probably notice that they sound good on all those guitars, right?

From Ideal to Real

After doing the test you'll probably have figured out that an ideal guitar is not really the magic ingredient you need to improve your guitar skills. At least, not about 99.9% of the time.

So now, forget the dream guitar and figure out what you really need to do to become a better player. Then go do it.

2 comments:

Great article...I was just thinking about a new guitar that would sound a play better...but you're right...I've heard my current guitar played better by someone with more skill...dang it - guess I'll have to wait on that new guitar I didn't really need!